


Light as Bright in my Heart

by Cumberbatch Critter (ivelostmyspectacles)



Series: DouWata 30 Day OTP Challenge [27]
Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Gift Giving, Holidays, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-18 00:45:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4685813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivelostmyspectacles/pseuds/Cumberbatch%20Critter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas-time in Tokyo, and Watanuki and Doumeki are sightseeing (and one-sidedly giving gifts for "apparently no reason").</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light as Bright in my Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Self-prompt: Christmas

"It's beautiful."

Watanuki looked up at Doumeki, away from the thousands of twinkling lights twined around the trees, and barely had to contemplate the statement because responding. "Yes," he said softly.

Christmas in Tokyo was beautiful. Every so often, Watanuki wondered what the holidays were like in North America, where Christmas was alledgedly commercialized in a way that Watanuki was sure he would marvel at. Just looking at the lights wrapped around the trees here, along the paths, the light dusting of snow on the ground... it was calming, and peaceful, and Watanuki loved it.

"Have you going shopping yet?"

Watanuki nodded. "Yeah. Everything closed for the Emperor, right? They won't be open until after the new year."

"Mm."

"Why?" Watanuki narrowed his eyes. "Did you forget to shop??"

"No."

"Why do you sound so noncommental, then?" Watanuki huffed. The snow falling clung to his eyelashes, and he brushed it away absently, watching the flakes catch on the fiber of his gloves for a moment before melting away.

When he looked back at Doumeki, his companion was holding slips of paper in his hand. As Watanuki looked at him, Doumeki held them out to him, several pieces of old looking parchment with handwriting so skillful that Watanuki could only squint and recognize the calligraphy, not the words.

"My grandfather," Doumeki said, "wrote them."

Watanuki stared at them for a moment, before taking his gloves off and reaching forward to take them gingerly. They felt like they could fall apart at any moment, but they were well-maintained and held immense power. He could practically feel the power buzzing through the paper, through the ink itself as he traced his fingers along the words.

"Wards?" he guessed, and looked up at Doumeki for confirmation.

"Exorcism slips," Doumeki replied. He shuffled from the top of the stack of slips, fanning them out. "These three are the same." He touched the top three. "These four are wards." He brushed his fingers against the latter four. "I found them the other day, when I was cleaning the temple."

Watanuki rifled through to the wards at the back; he couldn't read those, either, but they had the same sort of silent power emanating from the parchment. "You sure have a lot of things at that temple. Haruka-san must have kept a lot of stuff hidden."

"Yeah." Doumeki turned away, looking back at the spindly trees lining the streets.

"But, why-"

"They're for you."

Watanuki closed his mouth, looking up at Doumeki with silent wonder. He was just... giving away Haruka-san's clearly most important artifacts? Without batting an eyelash, he was just giving them to him?

Doumeki looked back, taking a double glance as he noticed Watanuki staring. "Did I break it?" he intoned, and Watanuki startled back to reality with a frown.

"Break it? Break what?" He glanced down at the parchment in his hands, spurred by reflex.

"You."

Watanuki frowned further, looking back at Doumeki. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"You were quiet for longer than three seconds." Doumeki looked away with all the air of a bored person.

Watanuki's frown turned to a glare. "Hey, I can be quiet sometimes! I _am_ quiet sometimes! Do you think I just go around yelling 24/7??" he demanded.

"Yeah."

"Tch, if I didn't have emotionless stiffs making me mad, I wouldn't _have_ to yell all the time!" Watanuki declared.

"Sure."

"And why did you give me these now?" Watanuki demanded, waving the slips at Doumeki. "It's not Christmas, you're not supposed to give presents until-"

"It's not your Christmas gift."

"What?"

"Just so you stay safe."

"You-" Well. Watanuki didn't really... have a response for that. He was giving him wards just as an everyday present, which was a really weird present, actually, but completely useful in his life, and Doumeki wanted to be safe. Watanuki couldn't help but smile, just a little bit. "Thanks," he acquiesced softly, and carefully put the wards into his bag.

"Yeah."

Watanuki clasped his bag closed and let his hands fall back to their sides. He paused for a moment before reaching over, letting the back of his hand brush against Doumeki's knuckles. He didn't reach to take his hand, and he didn't directly look at Doumeki, either, just as Doumeki didn't look back at him asides the slightest movement of his eyes glancing towards him. Watanuki kept his gaze straight ahead, let his skin brush against Doumeki's skin for another moment.

"We should go," he said, after that moment, and fumbled to pull his gloves back on his hands.

Doumeki seemed to move in tandem to him, turning at the exact moment that Watanuki pulled away. "Yeah," he said, heading down the sidewalk.

Watanuki smiled to himself and, wiggling his fingers back into his gloves, hurried after him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to work it in but couldn't find a natural place, regarding their not quite hand holding, and why they don't in public:
> 
> "Doumeki was, by nature, a private person and Watanuki thought it was personal, anyway."


End file.
